Pumpkin Bread
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Kids love it, grown-ups love it…this pumpkin bread is hard to beat!
My grandmother clipped this pumpkin bread recipe from a magazine over 50 years ago, and it is my most-cherished family recipe. One of my clearest childhood memories is baking the loaves with my mom and carting them off to every neighborhood potluck and holiday party. Now I bake pumpkin bread with my own kids, and it’s just as wonderful today as it was back then. It’s easy to make — just a bit of mixing and stirring, pop it in the oven, and, in about an hour, you’ll have a house smelling of sweet autumn spices and two scrumptious, pumpkiny loaves.
Above, you can see the original recipe from my grandmother’s recipe box—it’s definitely seen its share of spills! After a bit of research, I discovered that the recipe was first published in the McCalls Cook Book (Random House, 1963). It is a typical sweet quick bread, similar to banana bread or cranberry nut bread, leavened with baking powder and/or baking soda instead of yeast. Quick bread batter can often be used to make muffins, and my pumpkin muffins are nearly identical to this bread, but with the addition of a pecan streusel topping.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Pumpkin Bread
How To Make Pumpkin Bread
Begin by combining the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. I like to add everything in neat little piles in case I lose track of what I’ve added.
Whisk well and set aside.
Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Beat until just combined. It will look a little crumbly.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Continue beating for a few minutes until light and fluffy.
Add the pumpkin.
Beat until combined. It will look a little curdled or grainy — that’s okay.
Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture.
And beat on low speed until just combined.
Transfer the batter to loaf pans.
Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Let the loaves cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
That’s all there is to it. Enjoy!
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Video Tutorial
Pumpkin Bread
Kids love it, grown-ups love it…this pumpkin bread is hard to beat!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 (15-oz) can 100% pure pumpkin (I use Libby's)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Generously grease two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans with butter and dust with flour (alternatively, use a baking spray with flour in it, such as Pam with Flour or Baker's Joy).
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk until well combined; set aside.
- In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until just blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until very light and fluffy, a few minutes. Beat in the pumpkin. The mixture might look grainy and curdled at this point -- that's okay.
- Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined.
- Turn the batter into the prepared pans, dividing evenly, and bake for 65 – 75 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the loaves cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Fresh out of the oven, the loaves have a deliciously crisp crust. If they last beyond a day, you can toast individual slices to get the same fresh-baked effect.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place in a freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (24 servings)
- Serving size: 1 slice
- Calories: 166
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 26 g
- Sugar: 17 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Sodium: 117 mg
- Cholesterol: 31 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I have a cookbook that my grandmother hand wrote for me as a bridal shower gift. I only add to the book recipes that I deem worthy and, congratulations, this recipe has made it into the book! The loaf has all the right textures; dense, without being heavy, moist, without falling apart and packed with just the right amount of spice for everyone.
i made this last night…holy smokes it was incredible; added choc chips to one loaf. Didn’t want all the butter so i split butter/unsweetened applesauce 50/50; will do 75 AS/ 25 bttr next time and cut sugar down by half due to the apple and pumpkin natural sweetness.
Due to high cholesterol i keep mini applesauce cups in pantry for all baking recipes to sub oil/bttr since unsweetened AS doesn’t change taste.
This was EXCELLENT. TYSM. Your recipes are incredible.
GREAT suggestion regarding applesauce, THANK YOU! I’m always looking for ways to up the healthy factor to treats.
This is my new favorite recipe. Moist and so flavorful. One of my loaf pans was being used elsewhere so I made it in a bunt pan. . It was a huge hit with my family.
I have made this twice. They have come out perfect and very delicious.
My bread didn’t rise. It’s not much higher than it went in
Hi Randy, The pumpkin bread doesn’t rise a ton (it’s more like a cake than a bread) so assuming you used two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans and your baking powder was fresh, it sounds like you didn’t do anything wrong.
Fabulous recipe! It’s a keeper!
Made and brought one loaf for a church
event. Had many positive comments.
Had the other for home. My family all
loved it. Moist and delicious!
( Pumpkin flavor is just right. )
Thank you so much!!
Nice. I put 1 1/2 cup of sugar instead of 2 and it was perfect. I put pumpkin seeds on the top. I will keep this recipe.
I have made your pumpkin muffins. They were wonderful. Is there any reason not to just use that recipe for a pumpkin loaf? Is there some advantage to using this one for the loaf?
Hi Pearl, The muffins contain a little less sugar because they have the sweet streusel topping. If you’d like to make a pumpkin loaf, I’d stick to this recipe (or you can use the muffin recipe if you’d like to add a streusel to the top of your pumpkin bread). Hope that clarifies!
Thanks. I’ll try the loaf recipe as is. I don’t really need the streusel topping even on the muffins. But I certainly loved it.!
Just wanted to refresh my comment made a couple of years ago. This is the best pumpkin bread recipe around. Mine have never failed and I go exactly by the directions except at times……I do add pecans, chocolate chips and turbinado sugar sprinkled on the tops. That’s the way my 5 year old granddaughter likes it. It is good. For those with problems with the rise……it is not a high rise but did notice that when I used my nine inch bread pans once instead of my eights…..there was some difference in the height.
Again…..thank you for this wonderful recipe. Everyone I share a loaf with wants the recipe.❤️
I found this recipe two weeks ago and I’ve already made it four times. I don’t know why anyone would think it’s dry because it’s literally perfect. Moist, packed with tons of flavor too! I didn’t have cloves, so I used pumpkin pie spice only in place of the cloves, left everything else the same. And I know what I’ll be passing out this year for Christmas!
This is the best pumpkin bread recipe of all time, hands down. My son asks for it constantly. I sometimes use two full sticks of butter; it still comes out great. So happy to have found it! Thank you.